Pakistan now world's most terror-hit country: Global Terrorism Index
Pakistan has surpassed Afghanistan as the country with the highest number of terrorist attacks and deaths in South Asia, according to the annual Global Terrorism Index (GTI) report published by Institute for Economics and Peace. As per the report, the country recorded the second-biggest spike in global terror-related deaths in the past year, with the toll significantly increasing to 643.
Why does this story matter?
Terrorism has long been a problem in Pakistan, which is also dealing with a massive economic crisis! Reports revealed that terrorism remains largely concentrated along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, with 74% of deaths and 63% of attacks occurring in the region. Notably, increased terror activities by the Islamic State Khorasan and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are responsible for the recent spike in nationwide deaths.
55% of terror-related victims were military personnel in Pakistan: GTI
According to the report, at least 55% of all terror-related victims were military personnel in Pakistan. Furthermore, the number of deaths in the country represented the highest year-on-year increase in the past ten years. The TTP has been conducting terrorist attacks against the Pakistani security forces to secure an Islamic Sharia-compliant state, exactly like the Taliban did in Afghanistan.
Impact of Balochistan Liberation Army
Another militant group, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), was allegedly responsible for 36% of terror-related deaths in Pakistan, which is a nine-fold increase over the previous year, the report states. With this, the BLA has overtaken the TTP as the deadliest terror group in the country. Of the 233 deaths in 2022 linked to BLA, 95% were of military personnel.
Know about BLA's fight to liberate Balochistan
As per the BLA, it is battling to secure the total liberation and independence of the Balochistan province bordering Iran and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the terror group's lethality rate increased to its highest in 2022, with 7.7 people killed per attack. The United Kingdom (UK), Pakistan, and the United States (US) have designated the TTP and BLA as terrorist organizations.
Afghanistan most impacted by terrorism: GTI report
The report also revealed that Afghanistan was the most terror-impacted country for the fourth consecutive year, despite a 58% decrease in deaths and a 75% decrease in attacks. Since the Taliban takeover, the Islamic State-Khorasan (Daesh) has emerged as the country's "most active terrorist group" and is responsible for 422 deaths in 2022, accounting for nearly 67% of all terrorism-related fatalities in Afghanistan.
Here's why Taliban isn't in GTI's report
"Afghanistan's drop can largely be attributed to the Taliban taking control of the country after the fall of Kabul in August 2021," the GTI report was quoted as saying by the news outlet the Times of India. "As the Taliban are now the state actor in much of Afghanistan, their attacks fall outside the scope of the GTI's definition of terrorism," added the report.
